Painted Horizons
by elvenrarehunter
Summary: Ben, Abigail, and Riley are invited to the Bahamas for an interview, but they get in over their heads when a strange girl brings up a strange legend. And Abigail finds something out about herself which turns her world upside down. R&R No flames plz.
1. Prologue

**_Painted Horizons_**

_By elvenrarehunter_

_A/N: I know, I have enough stories as it is, but this one refused to leave my mind until I got it down on paper. This came to me while watching history or discovery or something and it was about Atlantis. So yeah. That's what this is about._

* * *

**Prologue**

* * *

"_But afterwards there occurred violent earthquakes and floods; and in a single day and night of misfortune all your warlike men in a body sank into the earth, and the island of Atlantis in like manner disappeared in the depths of the sea." –Plato, 360 BC_

* * *

It was a normal day, just like any other lazy summer day. Ben reclined on a wooden swing in his back yard, letting it sway back and forth gently in the slight breeze. He had been working on his lesson plans, as he had now gotten the job that he had been coveted for so long: a history professor at the local college, but found that he couldn't stand being locked up in his office any longer. He took in the scents of the various types of plants scattered about the garden with no rhyme or reason. He admitted to himself that it did offer a calming effect. He was nearly asleep when Abigail came over and smiled, holding a cordless phone in her hand. She kissed him on the forehead, causing him to open one eye lazily. He closed it again and smiled.

"What a dream," he said. Abigail laughed. She hit him playfully on the arm.

"You've got a phone call," she said. He sat up and took the phone from her, freeing up some space on the swing for her. She sat down next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Hello?" Ben asked.

"Hey Ben," came the voice on the other end. Ben groaned. He'd know that voice anywhere.

"What do you want, Riley?" he asked.

"Well, excuse me," Riley grumbled. "I was calling you to let you know you've been scheduled for another museum opening and interview." Ben groaned again.

"Another one?"

"Yep. Guess where."

"I don't know."

"Oh, that's no fun."

"Where?"

"C'mon guess!"

"Riley…" Ben warned.

"Oh, c'mon just take a guess," Riley said. Ben rolled his eyes, regardless of the fact that he knew the younger man on the other end could not see him.

"_Atlantis_," Ben said to get Riley off his back.

"That's right," Riley said. Ben made a face.

"What?"

"You'll be staying at the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas when you open the exhibit there. All expenses paid, of course," he said. Ben looked at Abigail, who had heard most of the conversation due to Riley's big mouth. She grinned like a little kid on the morning of their birthday.

"Alright, when?" Ben asked. Frankly, he was quite ready to be over and done with all of the publicity. He wanted to live as normal a life as possible.

"Three weeks. Your plane leaves on that Monday at 5:00 am. Remember, you have to be there two hours early for baggage check in," Riley said.

"You are saying that I have to be there at 3:00 in the morning?" Ben asked.

"Not _you_. Us." Ben could almost see his friend beaming on the other side of the phone.

"You're coming too?" he asked, feigning disappointment.

"Of course, you couldn't expect to leave me behind on an interview like this?" he said, doing his best to sound indignant and failing miserably. "What with all the hot girls in bikinis…"

"Riley, keep your fantasies to yourself," Abigail said, talking loud enough for him to hear her.

"Will do," he said. "See ya later, Ben."

"Goodbye, Riley," Ben said, hanging up the phone.

"So, we're going to the Bahamas?" Abigail asked as Ben put an arm around her shoulder.

"Mmmhmmm," he answered, kissing her on the forehead. "And staying in Atlantis."

"But first, you have a trial to win," she said.

* * *

So, lemme know what you think by hitting that little button down there. No flames please.


	2. Chapter 1

_Hey, glad to see that someone likes this. I've got the next chappie in the works. Though reviews do get me to work faster… LOL. Now to:_

loveorange: I'm glad. LOL. Thank you very much. I'll keep up the story.

Madame Opera Ghost: Thanks. Glad you like it :)

Jinna: Thanks. I hope this satisfies you. :)

CharlieLOVER: Thank you. :)

moonlit rainbow: Thank you. I hope I don't disappoint you. :)

Carol2flute: YEY! I'm glad you like it. I'll be waiting. LOL :)

_Now on with the story._

* * *

Chapter 1

* * *

Ian sat in a scantily decorated courtroom on the defense side. He had refused counsel for the simple reason that he knew that they could just as easily screw him over as get him out of jail. He held a blue pen in his hand, tapping it on the desk impatiently. The jury had been discussing his fate for the past four days and he was getting tired of waiting. The prosecuting attorney, a middle-aged woman with dark blonde hair and green eyes dressed in a gray business suit was writing on a pad that was in front of her. Or doodling. From Ian's vantage point, he couldn't tell which. Beyond her sat Ben, eyes focused intently on something behind the bench that Ian apparently couldn't see. Seated just behind them were Riley and Abigail, both glaring furiously at him. Like that annoyed him. Ian fidgeted, wanting to get up and stretch his legs. He had been sitting in that bloody chair for the past five hours. 

Finally, a door on the other side of the room opened and the jurors filed out. Each one was wearing the same grave expression. The judge looked up.

"Have the jurors reached a verdict?" he asked.

"We have," the head juror said. She was a middle-aged woman, probably a little younger than the prosecuting attorney, tall and slender. Ian thought to himself that if she wasn't about to sentence him to prison, he might have been attracted to her.

"Alright, on the charge of trespassing on government property?" the judge asked, grateful that he would finally be able to get it over with.

"We find the defendant guilty," she said. Ian rolled his eyes. After all, what else did he expect?

"On the charge of kidnapping?"

"We find the defendant not guilty," she said. Ian looked up. Did she say what he think she said?

"Your honor," the prosecuting attorney started. The judge looked at her. "We have given you evidence that he did indeed take her against her will into the truck. If that isn't kidnapping, Your Honor, I don't know what is." Ian cleared his throat.

"If I may speak, Your Honor?" he asked. The judge nodded, frustrated with the lengthy trial. Ian looked at the blonde attorney. "You presented evidence I was there, not that I pulled her into the truck." Abigail cursed under her breath. It was true he hadn't physically pulled her into the truck. In fact, he had prevented harm from any of his men from coming to her as far as he could. Though that was more for the document's sake than her own.

"Yes, yes, the verdict is not guilty," the judge said. "And on the charge of attempted murder?" Ian felt a flicker of hope. If they had found him not guilty on the charge of kidnapping, then he dared to believe he could get off on attempted murder if he had presented his case right. The head juror sighed.

"After much deliberation, we find the defendant not guilty," she said, sparing a sideways glance at Ian and then the defense attorney. The former was smirking and the latter was fuming.

"Your Honor, he pulled a gun on my client!" she snapped.

"The verdict is decided," the judge said irritably. "As for the conviction of the defendant on the charge of trespassing on government property, that will be a fine of $250. Court adjourned." He stood, and the entire courtroom followed in suit. As he left, Ian could've sworn that he heard him mutter something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like "_finally_." The people began to file from the room. Ian moved and fell into step next to the prosecuting attorney.

"Better luck next time, Miss," he said, offering a satisfied smirk. She sighed.

"For someone without counsel, you didn't do too badly," she said. The rest of the conversation was lost to Abigail and Ben, who were listening to Riley.

"How could he get off! What about all that no fail evidence! That's just not right! We had this case in the bag!" Riley ranted. Ben sighed. It was going to be a long flight to the Bahamas if Riley was going to be like this the whole trip.

* * *

Ben and Abigail had packed with barely a word to one another. Both were too deep in thought wondering exactly how Ian had managed to avoid jail, and without a lawyer to boot. Abigail sighed as Ben packed the last few articles of clothing and closed his suitcase. Abigail looked at her own suitcase, which was empty. All her clothes for the trip lay scattered around it. Ben walked up behind her and gave her what he hoped was a comforting hug. 

"Ben, do you think he'll come after us?" Abigail asked. Ben shook his head.

"I doubt it," he said, though she had put into words what he had been wondering to himself.

"Ben, we tried to put him in jail," Abigail said, turning around to face him. Ben merely hugged her tighter.

"He's done with us," he said, resting his head on her shoulder. She leaned into his chest.

"I hope you're right," she said. They stood there for a moment or two before Abigail returned to packing her clothes. A sudden, tense silence fell over the room as the subject sank in.

"So, we're meeting Riley at the airport tomorrow morning?" Ben asked in order to break the uncomfortable silence.

"What? Oh…yeah," Abigail said absentmindedly. Ben said nothing more and left Abigail to her thoughts.

* * *

_So, thoughts? Sorry its such a slow moving chapter,but I had to get things set into motion. The next chappie will be up as soon as I can think of a witty criticism and kind reviews appreciated. No flames please. Thank you. And thank you in advance for your review. _


	3. Chapter 2

_Sorry this took so long to update. I've been busy all month. Now to:_

CharlieLOVER: Thanks, glad you liked. I still don't think he did have the things they accused him of, so that was partially favoritism on my part, but he's going to be important later on, trust me.

moonlit rainbow: You're not going to take that comment back now, are you? LOL _returns hug_ Yey, glad I haven't let you down, this is going to get the events set in motion.

Madame Opera Ghost: I'm glad you liked it and I'm trying to update.

Norma Jean the Dancing Machine: _eyes get really big and cartoony and start to tear_ LOL, I'm glad you like it.

* * *

Chapter 2

* * *

The plane arrived in the Bahamas without event. Ben stepped off the plane into the tunnel leading into the airport. His arm was wrapped around Abigail's waist and his bag hung from his other shoulder. Abigail was rolling her suitcase along behind them. Riley came scuttling along behind them, laptop slung over one shoulder and his suitcase over the other. They came to the end and walked out into the hustle and bustle of people. Ben looked around, his eyes settling on two people holding a handwritten sign that had _GATES_ scrawled messily on it. One was a man that was probably just a little shorter than Ben. He was dressed in a black business suit. The other was talking on a cell phone. They walked over. 

"Mr. Gates?" the man asked.

"Yes. This is my wife Abigail and this is Riley," Ben said, the two shaking hands with the two people respectively.

"Hello. My name is Erik Cunningham. I work for the QRST, the news station that you are doing the interview for. I was sent to make sure your accommodations were to your liking," he said, smiling. The girl hung up the cell phone and reached out a hand.

"My name is Kaigi Shinwa. I am your public relations agent for your stay. I'll take care of anything that comes up," she said.

"Thank you," Ben said, shaking her hand.

"Now, I'm sure after that flight you'd like to get to the hotel," Erik said. Abigail nodded tiredly. Kaigi smiled.

"Right this way."

* * *

It had been three days since the interview and it had been played numerous times. Ben found that he didn't like seeing himself on camera and shut the television off when he saw the interview. Riley seemed to be enjoying it and Abigail was somewhere in between. Though this was a much needed vacation, he was bored. He was currently alone in the hotel room, playing a game of solitaire on Riley's "borrowed" laptop. Little did he know that Riley was about to turn everything upside down.

* * *

Riley was walking down the beach in his flip-flops and swimming trunks. He wore sunglasses for effect as much as to block the sun. So far his "chick-magnet" thing hadn't been working. He had tried playing volleyball, but that had only served to embarrass himself. While diving for the ball, he had knocked into one of the other players, a rather attractive young woman, and caused her to fall as he landed face first in the sand. To add insult to injury, the ball had bounced off the top of his head and the other team got a point. He had tried Frisbee, but had gotten his foot stuck in a hole and twisted his ankle. He had tried surfing, but couldn't manage to stand up on the darn thing. He had tried just about everything he could think of. 

He looked up when he saw footprints in the sand and was quite surprised to see a woman standing there. She was tall and slender, probably a bit older than himself, and well-built, like she was an athlete. Her hair was a warm honey blonde color with natural russet accents. She was wearing a gold bikini with a sarong that depicted the setting sun. What seemed out of place to Riley was her skin. She was pale, not tan like he expected someone that had been in the Bahamas to be. She wasn't paying attention and he walked over.

"Hello," he said. She looked over at him with calculating sea foam green eyes.

"Hello," she answered, her tone emotionless. She began to walk toward Riley, stooping to pick up a large shell that lay mostly hidden in the sand. "You were on the news." Riley shrugged.

"Yeah," Riley said. She nodded.

"I thought so," she said. "You must be the Mr. Poole I've been hearing about." Riley nodded. She held out her hand. "Takisha Kaiyou. Please call me Kay," Riley shook her hand.

"Riley," he said. She held out the shell to him.

"Listen," she said. He took it and placed it up to his ear. He heard the sound of the ocean, but that also could have been because he was standing next to it. "Do you hear it?" she asked.

"Yeah, the waves," he said, thinking she was kind of strange. She sighed.

"It calls to me." Riley nodded. She had officially earned a place on Riley's weird list. "Are you any good at riddles, Mr. Poole?" she asked.

"I dunno. I could take a crack at one," he said.

"Come with me, Mr. Poole," she said, her tone emotionless. Riley watched as she walked a few steps, then decided that it couldn't be too much trouble to see what she wanted. He followed her, leaving another set of footprints next to hers.

* * *

_So, did you like it? Kind reviews and constructive criticism welcome. No flames please. _


	4. Chapter 3

_Sorry this took so long to update. I had trouble trying to figure out the last bit, but it'll come in handy later. So, now to:_

Norma Jean the Dancing Machine: I know you were. I dunno, it seems to me that everything Riley does is by mistake. Glad you liked.

Madame Opera Ghost: I know. I'm terrible to him, no? Thanks.

Princess Cornelia: I'll do my best

Mizu-Magaru-Sensei: Awww…thank you.

macpw2: Thanks. I'm glad it's interesting.

moonlit rainbow: Thanks. That makes me feel really great. :) Glad to know I can keep people interested.

Starly: Thank you, I'm glad you like.

Pyrate Rose: Thank you. Ian will be a major part of this and he might even do something scary…I dunno yet. Still trying to figure out how to work him into the story

_Now, on with the story._

* * *

**Chapter 3**

* * *

Takisha stood by the counter, stirring her lemonade with a straw. Riley sat at the kitchen table and looked around the kitchen, sipping his iced tea. All around were replicas of things from many cultures. There were things from the Greeks, the Mayans, the Aztecs, even some European stuff, but what intrigued him most were the fragile books that lined the bookshelf in the library, which the kitchen opened into. Most of them looked older than time itself, but he was sure they couldn't be that old. Takisha muttered something about it being silly that she brought him to her house, but walked into the library and ran a finger along their spines, finding one and pulling it off the shelf. Walking back into the kitchen, she flipped through the pages. 

"Here we are," she said, smiling at him. She laid the book in front of him and got herself some more lemonade. Riley looked at the faded writing on the page.

_Poseidon's favor, the eldest twin_

_Kingdom of Paradise, created for him_

_Ten rings strong, a temple of gold_

_A legend now more than 10,000 years old_

_Without a trace, the city lost_

_And with it the treasure, too high a cost_

_Clues left behind in its glorious wake_

_From the survivors of the titan earthquake _

_Found in places across the land_

_From fertile islands to desert sand_

_Once unraveled, mystery_

_Will lead you to a sight to see_

_Beneath the sea a treasure lies_

_For those who would find it with observant eyes_

"Dunno. Sounds like there's sunken treasure somewhere," he said, shrugging. She rolled her eyes.

"Even I could have figured that out," she said. Riley shrugged again.

"I'm not the riddle person. That's Ben's forte." Just then the front door swung open and Kaigi walked in, staring at the two before rolling her eyes.

"Kay, what are you doing?" she muttered, giving her a glare. Takisha shrugged and left the room without another word. "I'm sorry Mr. Poole. She has a bad habit of showing people she's barely met riddles and such nonsense."

"No, no, it's cool," Riley said. "That's how Ben got me hooked last time." He smiled. Kaigi frowned.

"But this is all nonsense, fantasy cultures and such. Though I do thank you for indulging her, you should probably head back to the hotel. Your companions will be worried," she said. Riley rose.

"Er…alright," he said. "Goodbye." He left and Kaigi closed the door behind him.

"Kay!" she yelled. She slipped around the corner.

"Yes?" she said, her tone emotionless. Kaigi walked over. She was slightly dwarfed by Kay, but that was of little importance. She put a finger in her chest.

"I will not have you ruining my career for me. Stay away from my clients!" she growled. Kay shrugged.

"Whatever you say, sis," she said, turning her back on her and leaving. Kaigi sat down at her kitchen table, placing a hand on her forehead.

* * *

_Eh...sorry it's so short, but reviews entice me to write faster... (gives puppy dog eyes) please review, but no flames please. Constructive criticism welcomed and appreciated._


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